Inspire Political Discourse

VIDEO: Anderson Cooper Has Heated Debate With Army Birther Doctor

Cooper challenges Lt. Colonel Terry Lakin, 
who has refused deployment to Afghanistan [and has been court martialed] based on Lakin's discredited assertion that Obama was not born in the United States in spite of all evidence to the contrary. 

It seems to me that if you are going to make such spurious accusations publicly, you ought to be willing to defend your position without hiding behind your lawyer, but then again, we are talking about a member of the Tea Party

In any case, the Birther Meme is getting very old, especially considering that even our far right wing SCOTUS has refused to hear any birther case, and other cases of military personnel refusing orders on the same basis, i.e., questioning Obama's eligibility to serve as commander-in-chief, have been dismissed. . The Tea Party faction of the G.O.P. needs to find another way to depose Obama, as that is clearly their intent evidenced by so many of their actions over the past year or so. View the video below.

The View: Tea Party Director Claims Insult in Term "Teabagger" & Denies Racism of Tea Party Movement

On The View yesterday, the director of the Tea Party Express, Amy Kremer, claimed that using the term "teabagger" to refer to a member of the Tea Party, was just as bad as using the "N" word.

Really? Really, Ms. Teabagger?

First of all, the term "teabagger" is only really offensive when you consider it's sexual connotation, first used by the Tea Party to slur liberals.

The “N word” on the other hand, has the horror of hundreds of years of the oppression of black people behind it.

Not at ALL the same, lady, not even close.

Secondly, the term "teabagger" was first used by the teabaggers to refer to, themselves at the beginning of their non-grassroots movement.

Moreover, as Jay Nordlinger at National Review admits, the term "teabagger" was introduced to the political lexicon by Tea Party movement leaders:
The first big day for this movement was Tax Day, April 15. And organizers had a gimmick. They asked people to send a tea bag to the Oval Office. One of the exhortations was “Tea Bag the Fools in D.C.” A protester was spotted with a sign saying, “Tea Bag the Liberal Dems Before They Tea Bag You.” So, conservatives started it: started with this terminology.

Ms. Kremer also claimed that the Tea Party was not about racism or Obama’s race. No, not at all. While there are far too many examples pointing to the truth being the complete reverse of her statements, one of my favorites is from Taeggan Goddard [emphasis mine]:

“These people could be anybody. I wouldn't put it past the Democrats to plant somebody there. They're trying to label the tea party, but I've never seen any racial slurs."
-- Dale Robertson, self-proclaimed founder of the Tea Party, quoted by the Washington Times.

The only problem? The Washington Independent caught Robertson at a Tea Party rally last month holding a sign with a racial slur.

FYI, Robertson also runs the website teaparty.org.

The image is from The Washington Independent, and depicts Dale Robertson with a racist sign.

PS Ms. Kremer….your pearls are very obviously cheap imitations, rather like the ideology you espouse.

VIDEO: Interview With Tea Party Racist Moron Carl Paladino

Yesterday, we posted a link to a breaking story about Carl Paladino, the Tea Party gubernatorial candidate in New York.

Today, Paladino was confronted at a Buffalo, NY rally by WNYMedia on camera, and yet Paladino never answers a direct question, just babbles incoherently about how this expose is a “Democrat smear”.

Via Think Progress:

Q: Do you condemn the stuff that was forwarded in those e-mails?
PALADINO: I don’t know. I don’t know what e-mails you’re referring to specifically. I wouldn’t even know half of them if I saw them.
Q: Let’s take a look at some of them. … Is that appropriate for somebody who’s running for governor to forward to other people? It’s a very simple question.
PALADINO: Is it appropriate for the Democrats to want to smear — Q: Carl, I’m not asking about the Democrats.
PALADINO: They can hear the rumblings, okay, of something happening.
Q: What does this have to do with the Democrats?
PALADINO: Everything.

Kudos to WNYMedia.net for exposing this creep.

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FLASHBACK: Sarah Palin Details Her Foreign Policy Credentials

2008 Interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson, "Russia is our neighbor".

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President Obama Dismisses Sarah Palin’s Foreign Policy Cred

Yesterday, the ever non-credible Sarah Palin compared the President’s new nuclear policy to a playground fight.

PALIN: No administration in America's history would I think ever have considered such a step that we just found out that President Obama is supporting today.

You know that's kinda like getting out there on the playground, a bunch of kids ready to fight and one of the kids saying 'Go ahead, punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me.

During a GMA interview this morning, George Stephanopoulos asked President Obama to respond to Palin's ridiculous comment:

STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to get to some of those broader issues [of nuclear proliferation]. Because you're also facing criticism on that. Sarah Palin, taking aim at your decision to restrict the use of nuclear weapons. Your pledge not to strike nations, non-nuclear nations, who abide by the nonproliferation treaty. Here's what she said. She said, "It's unbelievable, no other administration would do it." And then she likened it to kids on the playground. She said you're like a kid who says, "Punch me in the face, and I'm not going to retaliate." Your response?

OBAMA: I really have no response. Because last I checked, Sarah Palin's not much of an expert on nuclear issues.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But the string of criticism has been out there among other Republicans as well. They think you're restricting use of nuclear weapons too much.

OBAMA: And what I would say to them is that if the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff are comfortable with it, I'm probably going to take my advice from them and not from Sarah Palin.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But not concerned about her criticisms?

OBAMA: No.

A strong, pointed response from Obama. I do not, however, understand what the hades Stephanopoulos was thinking when he asked this question. As most of us recall Palin's utterly childish response to Charlie Gibson's question to Palin regarding her foreign policy credentials, or lack thereof, the question to President Obama seems particularly outrageous.

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Oh Pleaseeee.........

Newt Gingrich, advising Sarah Palin on the rehabilitation of her political career. Gag.

FYI, Mr. Gingrich, Palin is just soooo much less than you give her credit for. She is a typical redneck Republican woman with a poor education, and a penchant for talking too much and reading too little. She is not worthy of your time or anyone elses' time either. Not that I like you either, Mr. Gingrich; however, I do certainly understand that the chasm between your intellect and Palin's intellect, is oh so wide and deep.

Paul Begala, a Democratic political consultant and former Clinton Administration consultant, had this to say about Gingrich and Palin, during an interview aired on CNN:

He is trying to treat her like a serious person. She is not. OK? She is about half a whack job. She does not have the intellectual heft of Newt Gingrich or almost anyone else in the Republican Party, and I think she has proved that

Howard Dean's Post DNC Life

:: In an exclusive interview with the Huffington Post's Sam Stein, Dean talks about life after the DNC. From HUFFPOST:

Despite spending four years deep in the trenches of political warfare, Dean won't be winding down. In a phone interview with the Huffington Post he listed seven full-to-part-time gigs that he has lined up for the months and years ahead. Chief among them would be to renew his work with Democracy for America, the organization that he founded to build on the grassroots success of his presidential campaign.

"I'll be most interested in their health care stuff," he said. "Not only pushing for a health care bill but for one with meaningful reform."

Image courtesy of sindlinger.
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VIDEO: Obama Interview With Matt Lauer on Feb. 1, 2009

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Matt Yglesias and Rachel Maddow on Conservative Obstructionism to the Economic Recovery

They are both right on target. An excellent interview, well worth watching.

Hat Tip: Think Progress
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Political News Summary: Tuesday, January 27, 2009

:: Rush Limbaugh copies GOP liars, makes false claim that ACORN is mentioned in the stimulus and will receive $4.19 billion. What a sad loser cherub-cheeked Rushie is...... From Media Matters:

Summary: Parroting GOP talking points, Rush Limbaugh falsely claimed $4.19 billion of President Barack Obama's economic recovery package "is going to ACORN." In fact, the bill does not mention ACORN or otherwise single it out for funding.

TAGS: Rush Limbaugh, Conservative Pundits, GOP/Republicans, President Obama, LIES,
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Full Transcript - This Week's George Stephanopoulos' Interview With Obama, January 11, 2009

George Stephanopoulos' Exclusive Interview with President-Elect Barack Obama

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Hello, again. In nine days he will be president of the United States. This morning Barack Obama is our exclusive headliner. Welcome back to THIS WEEK.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT-ELECT: Thank you, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Does it feel like you're president already?

OBAMA: No.

WATCH: When Michelle Met Barack

CNN talks to Michelle Obama about how she met Barack, their first date, and more.

Barbara Walters Interview With Michelle and Barack Obama - November 26, 2008

A great interview, and truly revealing re the relationship between Barack and Michelle Obama.

Michelle Bachman Attacks Obama Choices - Again

Bachman does her attention seeking Palin thing yet again, but before I go on let me just say this right the frack out front. Barbara Bachman (D-MN) and Sarah Palin make me freakin' ashamed to even be the same gender as they are, and these two completely clueless women should not be allowed to represent anyone except themselves, in my opinion, and they sure as hell don't represent a majority of American women.

You all already know way more than you needed to know about Palin, but Bachman didn't get quite as much attention during the pre-election period, until she went out there and reeled it in. Given today's news, I felt that she deserved just a little more attention, and so here are the adventures of Barbara Bachman, in the national media, starting in January 2007, shortly after she began her first term in congress, and ending with today's news. Did I miss anything?

60 Minutes Interview With Michelle and Barack Obama - Full Video

A smashing interview with Michelle and Barack Obama by 60 Minutes. Among the topics covered by Steve Croft solely with President-elect Obama were the economy, the big 3, Guantanamo (Obama reiterated his intent to shut down Guantanamo and stop the torture), national security, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, the financial crisis, and former presidents Lincoln and FDR.

During Croft's conversation with both of the Obamas, they talked about their visit to the White House, the soon-to-be family dog, their resolve to ensure that the whole experience of being the children of a president doesn't adversely affect their daughters, and college football.

One of the most interesting aspects of the interview for me, was the opportunity to see the  interaction between Michelle and Barack Obama as a couple. But, most heartwarming for me was the realization that I had while listening to Obama talk. And that realization is that we have indeed chosen the best and most knowledgeable man to be the 44th president. I have very high hopes for this presidency, and I am eager to watch it all play out.

Don't miss this interview, it is well worth watching!

Watch CBS Videos Online

This interview originally aired on CBS on Sunday, November 16, 2008.
The full transcript is available here.
Photo Credit: Aaron Tomlinson/CBS

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